Vice President Joe Biden's strategy, when he visited the People's Republic last week, seemed to be fearlessness.

Biden, for a Thursday lunch meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, visited small Beijing restaurant Yaoji Chaogan. New Yorker China correspondant Evan Osnos writes that the house speciality at the family-run eatery is a stew made with pig liver, intestines and lungs, but that Biden stuck with pork buns, noodles and cucumber. The meal fed five people and cost 79 yuan, or $12.30. Biden apparently paid with 100 yuan note, leaving a 26% tip.